American brother demands answers after family of 11 from London, barred from
travelling to Disneyland in California without explanation

An American relative of the British Muslim family barred from entering the US to visit Disneyland has suggested it might have been because he attended the same mosque as one of the shooters behind the California terror attack.

Muhammad Mahmood, who runs a car repair shop in San Bernardino, California, told the BBC that the US government must justify the decision to exclude his British relatives.

He warned that the authorities now seem to believe they can “can get away with anything” by citing national security.

The 47-year-old, who is a US citizen, said his children had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of their cousins when the visitors' visas were revoked on the orders of the Department of Homeland Security.

“They can get away with anything by saying national security ? and you cannot even challenge that."

Muhammad Mahmood

The family of 11 – Mr Mahmood’s brothers Mohammad Tariq and Mohammed Zahid, their wives and children – were stopped at the departure gate at Gatwick airport last week, having already checked in.

They are still waiting for an explanation. David Cameron has promised to investigate.

Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, has written to the Prime Minster urging him to press American authorities on what she says is a growing problem of British Muslims being barred from the US without explanation.

She said there is "growing fear" among British Muslims that aspects of Donald Trump's plans to bar Muslims from entering America are already becoming a reality on the ground, even though they have been widely condemned.